Roller side bearing.



A. STUGKI.

ROLLER SIDE BEARING.

APPLICATION IIVLED 'JUL! 17, 1908.

930,901.- Patented Aug. 10,1909.

. 2 BHEETSSHBET 1.

, lNVENTOR A. STUGKI. j ROLLER SIDE BEARING, APPLIUATION FILED JULY 17, 1908.

3,901. Patented Aug. 10,1909;

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I WITNESSES A INVENTOFI ARNOLD s'rUcK or PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

Romans SIDE IBEAfiIfNG.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that .I, ARNOLD STUoKI, a resident of Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in; Roller Side Bearings, of which the following is a. specificatio This invention relates to side bearings for railway cars.

performs all. of the other necessary, func tions of side bearings, and which is inexpensive both as to first cost and subsequent repair.

The,invention comprises a side bearing construction and the arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings F ignre 1 is a vertical section throu h the bearing taken parallel with the longitudinal axis of the bolster; Fig. 2' is-in part aninverted plan view and in part a horizontal section on the line 22 Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is in part an end view and in part a vertical transverse section on the line 3 3, Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a side view of the bearing; and Fig. 5 is a vertical transverse section showing a modification. a

In the drawings-the side hearing has been shown as adapted to be applied to a body bolster of tapering form. It canfhowever, be applied to either a truck or body bolster and of either tapering or straight form.

The side bearing comprises a suitable 1 having its upper face formed on an inc ine' to correspond with the taper of the bolster, which is indicated at 2. The housing is provided with inwardly and outwardly projecting flanges 3 and 4,

respectively, apertured for receiving bolts or rivets for connecting'the bearing to the bolster.

The bearing face of this housing or frame is cored out, as at 5, in order to lighten the same and is provided with suitable ribs indicated by 6, in order to give the necessary strength and bearing surface. This housing orframe is provided with a downwardly projectingv inside web 7 and outside web 8, said housing beingopen at its ends to clear the roller in its extreme positions, and also being open at the bottom to permit the roller to project through the sameaud contact with the cooperating bear ing or bolster 11. The bottom face of the top portion of the housing is provided with Specification of Letters Patent. 7 7 Application filed July 17,, l908 Serial No. 443,993.

Patented Aug. 10, 1909.

a flat solid surface on which the roller 10 cantravel. Said surface is slightly curved at its ends as at 13 to prevent accidentalshocks to'the roller trunnions. The roller is perfectly ;free to travel in the housing.

It is provided with journal portions or trunnions 15 which project into grooves or guide j ways '16 formed in the inner and outer webs a j 7 and 8 of the housing, The trunnions are The object is. to provide a side. bearingl' which is absolutely frictionless, and which i considerably smaller than the vertical dimensions of these grooves or guide ways so that-the roller is'free to rise or fall to a considerable extent, but'cannot fall out, being I sustained by the bottom flanges 17 on the guide ways. The grooves or guides 16 are closedat one end and open at their opposite ends to permitthe insertion and removal-of the roller, The roller is held from accidental escape from'the housing by suitable stops placed at the open end of the housing, the

18extending through the housing walls and stops being shown in the form of'short bolts having their heads lying in the outer or the long teeth 20, and each end of the roller is provided with cooperating teeth in the form of projections 21. The long teeth of the rack compensate for the up and down movement of the roller and keep the parts in mesh, no matter whether the roller is up or down. The intermeshing gears of the roller and rack serve not only to hold the roller in proper position and-prevent the same from assuming a diagonal or askew position, but also serve as means for moving the roller with all angular movements of the bolsters relative to each other, and this irrespective of whether the body bolster is lifted off the roller or not. It is perfectly'obvious that as long as the body bolster is tilted so as to rest on the roller the latter will travelwith all changes in the angular positions of ever, lifts so that the side bearings are no I longer pressed together the roller ordinarily would not travel with the changes in theangular positions'of thebolsters. The gears on roller and rack, and especially the long teeth of the rack provide for this, whether the bearings are pressed together or not.

The consequence is that the roller is always along the'surface 12 in the housing and its it is possible to obtain.

having. a freely traveling roller as shown.

bottom rolling on the bottom bearing or truck bolster. The trunnion portions merely serve to prevent the roller from dropping out of the housing and are not designed when rolling, to come into contact with the top and bottom walls of the guide ways in the housing. The consequence isthat the bearing is as nearly absolutely frictionless as Furthermore, by

having rolling contact both with the upper and lower bolsters the angular travel of said bolsters may be very great, and still the travel of the roller itself be only half as.

large. which in turn does away with'excessively long bearing surfaces. In other words, as the roller rolls both-on -the top and bottom surfaces the travel of its axis laterally is practically only one-half ofthe are described by'the change in the angular positions of the bolsters.

The bearing is of very simple construction and there are no parts subjected to severe blows so that breaking is'practically impossible. .The roller can be readily removed and; replaced when necessary.

The-bearing has been shown with a roller of conical form in order to fit the same to a tapering bolster, and also to compensate for the arch-shaped path of the roller and make the latter absolutely frictionless. Cylindrical rollers, however, might be used with fairly good results. The bearingis shown as spaced slightly from the bolster, such as by the space 23, in order to receive a shim when the car is new and permit the removal of the shim in case the bolster should sag. The bearing-.can be readily adapted to a straight bolster, that is, one that is not tapering, and can be applied to a truck bolster instead of a body bolster, although the latter is preferred. \Vhile the bearing is shown as provided with one roller, this is not essential as the number of rollers may v be increased if desired.

Fig. 5 shows a modification in which the bearing surface 12 for the roller in the housing is curved or concave, Iprefer to have a perfectly straight bearing surface, but the modification in Fig. ,5 can be used in case it is desired that the weight of the car shall assist in righting the truck after leaving a curve. a I

The side bearing described is of simple construction and inexpcrsive to make and maintain, is as near absolutely frictionless as is possible to obtain, and is theoretically co rect in that it fulfils. all the necessary I functions and advantages of side bearings. It can be cheaply manufactured and of very durable or hard material. It is not subjected to excessive wear and cannot, easily be broken. In case of injury from any source it can be easily and readily repaired, as it contains practically only two pieces which can be very readilyseparated.

What I claim is:

1. A side bearing for railway ears comprising a one-piece housing or frame adapted for direct connection to the upper bolster and provided with a plane bearing surface,

a roller in said frame having an uninterrupted surface arranged to roll on said bearing surface and being free to travel horizontally in said frame, and cooperating means .on the housing and roller respectively for causing said roller to travel in said frame with all changes in the angular relation of the bolsters and irrespective of clearances between the bolsters.

2. A side bearing for railway cars, comprising a one-piece housing or frame adapt-- ed for direct connection to the upper bolster and provided with a plane bearing surface, a roller in said frame provided with an uninterrupted surface arranged to roll on said bearing surface, said roller being free to travel horizontally in said frame and being freely movable vertically therein to remain in constant contact with the lower bolster during all normal clearances between the bolsters, and means for causing said roller to travel in said frame or housing with all changes in the angular relation of the bolsters.

3. A side bearing for railway cars, comprising a one-piece frame or housing adapted for direct connection to the upper bolster and rovided with a plane bearing surface, a roller in said frame provided with an uninterrupted surface arranged to roll on said bearing surface said ro travel horizontally in said'frame and freely movable vertically therein to remain in constant contact with the lower bolster during all normalclearances between the bolsters, and means connecting said roller andframe or housin and arranged to move said roller horizonta ly with all changes in the angular relation of the bolsters.

4. A side bearing for railway cars, comprising a one-piece frame or housing adapted for connection to the upper bolster and provided with a plane ;bearing surface, a roller in said frame provided with an uninterrupted surface arran ed to roll on said bearing surface, said r0 ler being free to travel horizontally in said frame or housing and being freely movable vertically therein to remain in constant contact with the lower bolster during all normal clearances between the bolsters, and a rack on the frame and teeth on the roller arranged to move the er being free to roller with all changes in the angular rela-.

tion of the bolsters. 5. A side bearing for railway ears, comprising a frame or housing ada ted for connection to a bolster, a roller ree to travel horizontally in said housing and vertically movable therein to contact with the other bolster irrespective of normal clearances between the bolsters, a rack on the housing provided with long teeth, and teeth on the roller within the periphery thereof and meshing with said rack.

.6. A side bearing for railway cars, com-' prising a one-piece frame or housing adapted' for connection to the upper bolster and provided with a plane bearing surface, a roller in said frame provided with an 'unframe or housing arranged to move the roller horizontally with all changes in the angular relation of the Lbolsters and at a peripheral speed exactly equal to the lateral movement of the bearing surfaces contacting with said roller.

7. A side bearing for railway cars, comprising a housing or frame adapted for connection to a bolster and being open at one side, a roller free to move vertically and travel horizontally in said frame or housing and provided with journals projecting into guides therein, a barrier at the open side of said housing, gear teeth carried by the roller,

and a cooperating toothedrack on said housing having teeth of such length as to always engage the teeth of the roller irrespective of vertical movements of the roller.

8. A. side bearing for railway cars, comprising a housing adapted for connection to a bolster and being open on one side and provided with grooves or guides running to said open side, a roller free to move vertically and travel horizontally in said housing and provided with said grooves or guides, a barrier at the open journals projecting into ends of said grooves or guides, gear teeth carried by the roller, and acooperating toothed rack on said housing having'teeth of such length as to always engage the teeth on the roller irrespective of vertical movements of the roller.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

- ARNOLD. STUCKI. Witnesses ALICE A. TRILL, \VILLIAM ARNOLD. 

